Urban Legend of The Boo Hag Essay -- Urban Legends

The Boo Hag Background Urban legends survive through time by having three elements: â€Å"a strong basic story-appeal, a foundation in actual belief, and a meaningful message or ‘moral’† (Brunvand 10). These characteristics are not only inherent in the content of the story, but also in the performance of the story to an audience. Like an actor on stage, storytellers have the responsibility of keeping a story entertaining, yet believable, through their gestures and attitude while telling the story. One particularly interesting legend involving magic and witchcraft, which was performed to me by an old friend from high school, is entitled â€Å"The Boo Hag.† The storyteller was an eighteen-year old male attending the University. Currently a sophomore, he was raised as a Catholic in Maryland. Upon visiting me a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday night, we relaxed over some calzones in my dorm as we began to watch television and listen to music. Flipping through the channels, we came across the Sci-Fi network, sparking a sudden interest in both of us to talk about scary stories. We began to discuss the local urban legends, myths, and horror stories that we knew, and he began to tell a story that he heard from a friend down in South Carolina during his freshman year. It went like this. Story So†¦There was this man named Phil who lived in South Carolina. He was a nice, simple man who worked hard as a farmer. Though he was doing well for himself, he felt lonely. You see, he had been divorced two times already, and he really wanted some companionship in his life. He decided to travel into the town square. It was there that he saw one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Desperate to meet someone, he approach... ...rall appeal as an entertaining and engrossing story, and the morals that it conveys, all of which can be related to our society, that it has the potential to remain a folk tale in our culture for many years to come. Works Cited Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings. New York: W. W. Norton, 1981. Dominey, Craig. The Boo-Hag: Gullah. The Moonlit Road. 5 April 2008 http://www.themoonlitroad.com/archives/boohag/boohag_cbg002.html. Dominey, Craig. The Boo-Hag Origin. The Moonlit Road. 5 April 2008 http://www.themoonlitroad.com/archives/boohag/boohag_cbg001.html. McKissack, Patricia C and Onawumi Jean Moss. Precious and the Boo Hag. Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books, 2005. Schlosser, S.E. Boo Hag. American Folklore. 5 April 2008 http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/tx7.html.